Pontoon rebuild / redesign

[archbuilder]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Time for an update. Hopefully next weekend my "fall projects" will start to wind down.....I have spent a lot of time thinking about the boat....especially fiberglass work. I'm going to toss the fence, and add glass sides that have some sex apeal to them.....my main struggle has been mold building, not really a strugle, just trying to figure out the best process for what I want to do. I think that I am going to build the molds, lay up the glass, and cross my fingers. I do it all the time on buildings, why not give it a whirl on a boat? I thought about building a mock up part, then making a mold......then creating the part....I would like to have her on the water next spring so I'm ruling that out with time and budget. So here is what I'm thinking so far...I really like the rear deck of this Harris. This isn't the best photo, but it gives you the idea.

They have ditched the battery and fuel tank storage on the back of the pontoons....which gives you room to create a swim platform. I like the concept which ties in really nicely with my other idea. I would like to have the "fly deck sun bathing area". I have had an idea for that for a while, but was wondering how to tie it into the rest of the design.

I like the idea of the radar arch, I really want this boat to convey the idea of speed even thought it's top speed will make Miss Morgan yawn, lol! what I am thinking is the "radar arch" will extend forward from the swim platform and the top will extend out to create the sun bathing area....and a cover for part of the deck. Well there are some of my ideas for now...hopefully I will have time in the next few weeks to put them on some drawings and come up with a plan for moving forward. As always I'm looking for other ideas, so let me know what you think!

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

lol, those tubes look pretty tough.....but you can never tell what will get tore up at a party I'm waiting for the 55 gallon drum suggestion!

well...since you brought it up...i did get a little bored this summer, and built this....

it turned out pretty good...mounter a trailer axle where the missing drums are, and a removable tow bar....
hey...it was something to do

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Wow I bet that sucker will really float with all of those barrels! You either have a heavy load barge or a dance floor for 50!

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

well...just calculating the buoyancy of the barrels, and not the wood....to get the water up to the half-way point of the diameter of the barrels, it takes 3331 lbs....the 'barge' itself weighed about 1186 lbs.....so that left me with 2145 pounds for people. gear and motor (we ran it with just a trolling motor due to lake limitations)

 

[oops!]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

the best mold for flat fibreglass panels........is a piece of glass......

go to a home salvage store.......buy a big patio door that they have only one side of......it will only cost 20 bux or less.......then you have a perfect flat panel to gellcoat and glass....right out of the mold it looks like a million dollars.

you can even easily do multliple colors of gelcoat. a wave formation......or even a name.....

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Thanks for the idea Oops, I hadn't thought about glass. I have used smooth high gloss plastic laminate (formica) before, it works great. Didn't even have to wax it.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Well I made good progress on the fall chores....hopefully by Tuesday I can cross two of the large ones off my list. From then on it should be down hill from there. I was thinking today while working on the chores, how to move forward on the design. Doing some drafting is a good starting point, but I got to thinking mock-ups might speed up things. Its funny to think about that since its football season and things are turning cold, but I have a lot to do before May! So I'm thinking about buying a few sheets of plywood for the deck, screwing them down, then working on mockups out of cardboard. I figure $2 sheets of 4x8 cardboard will help me get the design headed in the right direction. I'm chomping at the bit to get started.......but I'm forcing myself to get everything else done first.....

 

[BobsGlasstream]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Hey arch,
Not sure how I missed your thread but I will be tagging along to see the progress. May be almost like old times. LOL
Looking forward to watching.

Best

Bob

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Thanks Bob, hope you enjoy watching.....I'm ready to get started!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

I had about an hour tonight to start measuring the boat. I want to get it into CAD so I can work on design and some details before I dive off into things. I have also been looking at the seating layout of the Benningtons. I like the "chase lounge" chairs they have on some of there models, and have been working on sketching some seating layouts. I will be close to one of their dealerships on Friday, so I plan on dropping in there to take a look at them first hand.

At this point I'm also wanting to polish the pontoons. Has anyone used Sharkhide? I have seen some good reviews on it, I was thinking of polishing them out, then applying the sharkhide.

After looking at the Harris foteboats I'm thinking the aft deck are might be a molded piece of fiberglass. The rest will be plywood with glass over the top and carpet. I'm thinking the molded glass might tie into the fiberglass sides I want to build. I have also toyed with doing the bow section the same way.

So at this point I think I need to start working on drawings as well as the mock ups. The deck will be one of the first things I have to do, which brings up the question of color. I'm planning on painting the glass parts I'm molding......I think that I will have to mold a lot of smaller sections, and glass them together at seams. If that turns out to be the case, I think paint makes a lot of sense. But I want the deck sections to be gelcoat. Any thoughts on what color this thing should be? Black would be sexy, but not practical from a heat and water spot standpoint.

Tying into the color selection is the mold making / gel coat issue. I have spent a lot of time on the mold issue and have some ideas I'm going to start experimenting with. I'm going to order a sample gelcoat kit and some other supplies this week to start playing with. I think this will be the biggest learning curve for the project. I'm itching to get started, hopefully I can get the shop cleaned up this weekend and start making some real progress next week! I just about have most of my fall list finished up!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Check out BigHoss's thread, He used Sharkhide on his tin boat and it looks like Chrome!!!

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=475888&page=14&highlight=bighoss

 

[BobsGlasstream]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Hey arch,
I am looking forward to watching, I just wish I was close enough to help ya out.
I like white but in the bright sunlight with that much surface area, I think I would go with a light grey or tan. Something like the one in the pic you posted.
That's my thoughts anyway.
I'm sure it will turn out great.
Bob

 

[oops!]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

i like tan....but the theme of the boat will dictate the colors !

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Thanks for the thoughts guys, I have leaned towards the tan for the deck, but I think the rest of the boat will have some punch color wise. I think getting the gelcoat kit will help me work through that. I just want to make sure the final product ties together nicely.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Let Playcraft figure out your colors for you http://www.playcraftboats.com/xtreme_series.htm

 

[mrdjflores]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

which cad package do you use? i have autocad, solidworks and Pro-E....
you can find alot of already modeled components on grabcad.com

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Thanks for the ling Wood, I already have everything to buff them out....so all it would cost me is labor (free, other than a few beers I'll drink) and the sharkhide.

Thanks for the link ez, those are some interesting boats by the way.

Mrdjflores, we actually use Lt for most of our drafting, typically 2d work.....most of the 3d stuff happens in my head, lol! We do some things in sketch up for rough models and 3D max. I think most of the stuff I'll do for this will be 2d, but I may play with it in sketch up some. Since I have a full scale "model" to work with (the boat) I think I will probably draw some, mock it up in cardboard, then replete the process till I get things working the way I want them to. The other big factor in this is going to be my ability to produce molds, I see that bigest limiting factor with what I plan on doing....oh and I want to have it on the water next summer! I don't think it will be 100% done, but done enough to take out.

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

I ordered some PVA mold release, gelcoat, gelcoat tint, and some clay today. I'm hoping to start playing with some mold making ideas Sunday. I have to spend part of the weekend shuffling around trailers, tractors, mowers etc for the winter and to free up space in the shop.....I also still have a few outside things to get done, but I'm hoping Sunday I can start playing with some of my ideas on mold making. I'm looking forward to playing with the gelcoat and related supplies.

 

[BobsGlasstream]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Sounds like clay therapy to me.
Have fun
Bob

 

[archbuilder]

Re: Pontoon rebuild / redesign

Actually I think of the whole project as therapy, lol!